Sissy, by Kellog, is a story about a young boy who has the characteristics and personality traits of a girl. I believe that Sissy, or William Shipherd, would not have grown up that way if it wasn’t for the fact that he was raised only by his mother and was not allowed to play with other boys. His mother ever “kept him in girls clothes till he was turned five…” (Kellog 545). Sissy did not have any male influences in his life and this is why he turned out so feminine. While reading this story I could not help but think about little Lord Fauntleroy. Although, Lord Fauntleroy might not have been considered girlie back in his time, today we can see that his features and his personality were pretty feminine. I noticed that he too only had a maternal influence for most of his life, and although he did play with other boys, he looked a lot like a girl.
Another similarity between Sissy and Fauntleroy was the fact that when given the chance both boys wanted to help out another person. Little Lord Fauntleroy helped all the people who were down on their luck as soon as he got some money. Sissy washes Margie the minute he sees her because he can not stand seeing someone so pretty look so dirty. Then after finding out where Margie lived and seeing that “it’s so miserable there” and “They cant half take care of Margie” he begged his mother to adopt her and give her a better life (Kellog 562). He tells his mother that he “believes that’s what God made [him] for- to take care of Margie” (Kellog 562). Most boys, if they got the chance, whether by money or because they had a giving mother, would not bother with making other people happy. They would demand things like toys and candy!
Another similarity between these two stories is the female author. Both stories were written by women and although we would like to think that men and women are capable of the same things, I do not thing a man would have wanted to write these stories let alone could have written them. I think a boy like sissy or like little Lord Fauntleroy, with all their girlish qualities, would be more accepted by women than by any men. I am not even sure if men would want to read a story about a boy who is called “sissy” and a “girl boy” (Kellog 545).
About Me
- Kasey S
- I am from a small town outside of Houston, TX that nobody has probably ever heard of. I want to major in Political Science but that is subject to change, I can't seem to make up my mind!
I really enjoyed your post and the text that was used to compare the two stories and the female authors. Because they were written by women I think that this is essential to understanding Sissy. Sissy is definitely a deeper story that would seem to be written by a woman.
ReplyDeleteI think it is no surprise that a woman wrote both Little Lord Fauntleroy and Sissy. The male authors typically portrayed boys as being more masculine and learning things that would make them into good businessmen. I thought reading Sissy was interesting because he is the complete opposite of pretty much every boy we have read about.
ReplyDeleteI also thought that Sissy had his girlish features mainly because he was raised by his mother, but I remember seeing that the author kept on saying that Sissy's mother had taught him to be sympathethic, compassionate, etc. That may also be the reason why Little Lord Fauntleroy was like that too; it wasn't necessarily because they were raised by mostly women but maybe because of the morals that these women instilled in them.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with the unlikeliness of a boy being raised like that if there was more of a male presence in the household. I agree for sure that a male author probably wouldn't have had the same effect in writing about a character like Sissy as a woman did.
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